Agitator for washing machines



Jldy 25, 1939. L C, NELSQN 2,157,218

AGITATR FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Nov. 15, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 l Wrrnas 5 July 25, 1939. 1 Q NELSON '2,167,218

Y Aoxynfron'pon WASHING MACHINES n I Filed Nov. 15, 1955 s shex's-sneef. g

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` l -AT'rnRNEY July 25, 1939.

J. c. NELSON AGITATOR FOR WASHING MA-JHINES Filed Nov. 15, 1935 v 5 Smeets-sheet:5`

yPatented July 2.5, 1939 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Jabez Curry Nelson, Syracuse, N. Y., assigner to Easy Washing Machine Corporation, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation o! Delaware .Application November 154, 1995, serai No. 49,995 s claims. (ci. ca -134) My invention relates to washing machines and more particularly to a novel agitator or dolly therefor. f

An object of my invention is to provide an l agitator for a washing machine which is adapted to cleanse the clothes thoroughly in a minimum length of time.'

\ A further object of my invention is to provide an agitator adapted to be'mounted for operation in a vat containing clothes and washing fluid, the agitator comprising a multisided closed figure.

Another object of my invention is to provide an agitator for a washing machine adapted to be mounted for operation in a vat containing l5 clothes and washing fluid,the agitator comprising a polyhedrally shaped structure having means mounted thereon for causing agitation of the clothes and Washing fluid and a scrubbing action upon thev clothes. 'A

More specifically, my invention contemplates the provision of an agitator for a washing machine adapted to be mounted for operation in a vat containing clothes and washing fluid in which the agitator is generally cubical in shape and is provided with means for agitating the clothes and washing fluid and means for exerting a scrubbing and thread-deforming action upon the clothes. l

Other objects and advantages of my invention will beA more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view showing the agitator in side elevation mounted in a washing vat.

Figure 2 is a view taken on the line 2-2. of Figure 1.

- Figure 3 is a. view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 1. y

Figure 4 is a view taken onthe line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a .view showing a side elevation of a modified form of my novel agitator 'mounted in a washing vat.

Figure 6v is a view taken on the line 6--6 of Figure '5.

Figure 7 is a view fairen on the line 1--i'l of v 1 Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a view showing a side elevation of another modified form of my novel agitator mounted in a washing vat. Figure 9 is a view'taken on the line 9--9 of Figure 8.

vFigure 10 is a view taken on the line III-I0 of Figure 9. u The agitator of my invention is adapted to be and extends vother whereby' the meeting `edges exert a subaxis of the agitator and the cube is seated on 55A mounted ina vat or tub II in which the clothes and washing fluid are placed. lI'he washing vat may be of any desired shape, either square or circular in cross section.- The agitator, generally indicated by the -numeral I2, is preferably l5V rnounted centrally of the vat Il and is driven by a shaft I3 extending upwardly through the bottom of the lvat. The shaft I3, while it may be rotated, is preferably oscillated by any suitable mechanism and from any suitable source of pow- 10 er, not necessary t0 be shown or described herein since such driving mechanism is well known in the art to which this invention applies.' Preferably, they shaft is driven in an oscillatory manner so as to drive the agitator through an arc l5 of degrees, more or less, and at a. speed of between fifty and sixty oscillations per minute.

The upper end of the shaft is splined, as indicated at I4, to receive cooperating splines I5 20 formed in a collar I6. The collar I6 is press fitted into a sleeve I'I which surrounds the shaft to the bottom of the agitator at which point it may be .slightly enlarged to provide a bearing surface adapted to snugly fit the 25 shaft so as to support the agitator.

The agitator I2 comprises a preferably circular base I8 upon which the agitator proper is mounted. The main portion ofthe agitator ofmy invention, broadly considered, is a,v polyhedron 30 which is a multisided gure bounded by plane faces. While the faces of the polyhedron are a preferably plane surfaces, it may be desirable to concave ory convex them slightly, in .which event the structure will not be truly polyhedral in 35 shape.

I have found that the best form of polyhedron for use'as an agitator for washing clothes is a polyhedron whose apices lie on a sphere. I have alsofound that such a polyhedron should be pref- 40 erably in the form of a cube as in a cube the faces are at sharp'angles with respect to each stantial scrubbing action on the clothes when the agitator is oscillated. i Th'e cube is preferably mounted on the base I8 so that one of the diagonals through the cube extends in a vertical direction but at an angle to the vertical. Preferably, also, the axis of the agitator forms an acute angle with said 50 one of the diagonals, so that the corners of the cube lie in different horizontal planes. The lower vertex of the cube'is cut on, the plane of the cut of! portion being perpendicular to the the b ase on this flattened portion. The drive shaft I3 and its surrounding sleeve I'I project through the top face 25 of the agitatoras indicated at 25'. Upon each of the faces I9, 20. 2| and 22, are mounted a pair of small blades or ribs 23 and 24. The ribs 23 are preferably mounted substantially centrally of the faces I9, 20, 2I and 22 while the ribs 24 are preferably mounted just slightly inwardly from one edge of each of the faces I9, 20, 2l and 22 of the agitator and near the corresponding edge of the respective faces. The ends of the ribs are preferably rounded oi as shown in the drawings to avoid the formation of sharp corners which are likely to tear the clothes.

A blade 26 is provided by extending the face 20 downwardly until it meets the base which forms with the base and the bottom surface of the cube a pocket facing in the clockwise direction. A second but smaller blade 21 extends from the meeting edge of the face I9 and the bottom .face to the disk so as to prevent the clothes from being caught between the bottom of the cube and the disk.

When the agitator is oscillated, the clothes and washing fluid are violently agitated and Whipped back and forth in accordance with the oscillations of the agitator. At the same time, there is a resultant circulation of the clothes and washing uid around the -vat in a clockwise direction. 'Ihis one-way rotation is caused probably by two factors. First, the blade 26 forms a pocket between the bottom face of the agitator and the base I8 facing in the clockwise direction which exerts a greater thrust on the clothes and washing uid when the agitator is rotated in the clockwise direction than when it is rotated in the counter-clockwise direction. Second, while the blades 23 exert substantially the same thrust in each direction of rotation of the agitator, the blades 23, by reason of their being placed in a corresponding position on each face of the agitator just inwardly from the meeting edges of the faces, tend to have less effect when the agitator is rotated in the counterclockwise direction than when it is rotated in the clockwise direction. Of particular importance in the action of the agitator is the fact that each of the four upper corners of the cube lies in a different horizontal plane. The corners, to a certain extent, catch on the clothes and drag them through the body of clothes and since each of the corners lies at a different level, this action is secured throughout the depth of the upper portion of the cleansing fluid.

In Figures 5 to 7, inclusive, I have shown an agitator which, while essentially the same as that above described, has been modified in certain important respects. In this modified form of my invention the cube has been mounted on the base I8 With a diagonal thereof vertical, that is, said diagonal lies on the axis about which the agitator is operated. Both the upper and lower vertices are cut off as indicated at 29 to provide flattened portions at both the top and bottom of the cube. A small scrubbing blade 3l of a length about half the width of the faces is mounted in the center of each face 30 and each of the faces is extended at one side beyond the plane of the" adjacent face to form blades 32. A' cap 33, held in position by a screw 3d is mounted on the top of the cube.

In operation, this modified agitator acts essentially the same as the agitator of Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, except that the action is less turbulent due, probably, to the absence of the agitating blade and due to the symmetrical mounting of the cube with respect to the axis of operation. Due to the fact that the blades 32 are each formed by extending each face of the cube beyond the plane of the adjacent face at an edge such that the slight pockets formed face in a clockwise direction, the agitator has a tendency to'ixcirculate the clothes in a clockwise direction around the vat.

The -agitator' of Figures 8 to 10 is substantially cubical and also has the cube mounted on the base so that the agitator is oscillated about a diagonal of the cube. If desired, in this construction, the central sleeve may be omitted and a portion 38, intergral with the cube, formed to receive the pressed-in collar I6 to which the shaft is splined. Also, the bottom of the cube may be formed in with an enlarged part 39 engaging the shaft to support the cube in position. In this construction, each of the lfaces 35 of the cube are dished or concave, as shown more clearly in Figure 10, so that the angles formed between adjacent faces are acute. The dishing of the faces of the cube causes this agitator structure to exert the desired turbulent effect on the clothes and washing iluid without the use of scrubbing blades.

The agitator' of this modification is provided with three agitating blades 36. Each of the blades extends from the cube to the base and is the extension of a face of the agitator. Each of the blades near the cube is decreased in Width, as at 36', and extends around the corner of the respective face, as at 3l, and upwardly along the adjacent edge gradually decreasing in width towards the upper end. These blades, because of their position With respect to the base and the faces of the cube, tend to exert a greater propelling eiTect on the clothes and washing iiuid when the agitator is rotating in a clockwise direction than when it is rotating in the opposite direction. 'Ihis causes the clothes to change their relative position in the vat whereby diierent articles of clothing are constantly being presented to the action of the agitator.

It will be apparent that I have provided a novel agitator construction and that various modifications may be made in the form of the agitator proper and in the form and relation appurtenances thereto without departing from the spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a washing machine of the submerged oscillating agitator type having a vat for containing washing fluid and clothes to be washed, an agitator having a parallelepipedal portion, and an axis of oscillationextending substantially between two apices of the parallelepipedal portion and in a substantially vertical direction.

2. In a washing machine of the submerged oscillating agitator type having a vat for containing Washing fluid andy clothes to be washed, a parallelepipedal agitator having an axis of oscillation extending substantially between two apices of the parallelepiped so as to expose the edges of the agitator to direct contact with the clothes and washing fluid.

3. In a Washing machine of the submerged oscillating agitator type having a vat for containing. washing fluid and clothes 'to be washed, a polyhedral agitator having an axis of oscillation extending substantially between the vertices of two opposite dihedral angles.

4. In a washing machine of the submerged washing uid.

an agitator being a polyhedron in shape wherein the apices of said polyhedron lie substantially on the surface of a sphere, said agitator having an axis of oscillation parallel to a line extending substantially between two non-adjacent apices oi the polyhedron, the agitator being so disposed on the axis as to expose the edges of said polyhedron to direct contact with the clothes and 5. In a washing machine of the submerged oscillating agitator type having a vat for containing Washing uid and clothes to be washed, an agitator having the form of a parallelepiped, said agitator being so constructed and arranged that the parallelepiped itself constitutes the main water and clothes agitating inuence and said parallelepiped being mounted in the vat so that at least one of the apices of the parallelepiped is located at a heighth with respect to the bottom of thev vat intermediate the heighth of the lowest andl highest apices.

6. InI a washing machine of the submerged oscillating agitator type having a vat for containlngwashinguid and clothes to be washed. an agitator comprising a base, a parallelepiped mounted thereon, said agitator being so constructed and arranged that the parallelepiped itself constitutes the main water and clothes agltating part of the agitator and said parallelepiped being mounted on the base so that at least one of the apices of said parallelepiped is located at a height with respect to the base intermediate the height of the lowest and highest apices.

JABEZ CURRY NELSON. 

